A Talk Among Enigmas
by n5d25d90
Summary: FF VI On the night before the Returners infiltrate Kefka's Tower, Shadow and Gau have a moment. ONESHOT


**WARNING: The following contains a slight hint at Gau/Relm, and do not reflect the views of every single FF VI fan. If you don't like the pairing, that's your problem. Don't read if you don't like. I don't read ZADR (Ooh! Burn!). Since there are people that don't support this pairing, reader discretion is advised.**

**Oh, and this comic assumes the very, **_**very**_** likely theory that Shadow is indeed Relm's father. Everyone has their reasons for believing this. One of mine is something that I'm surprised no one else seemed to catch: their names. C'mon… Shadow Relm? Shadow realm? Hmm… How very coincidental…**

**Anyways, this oneshot was inspired by reading a fanfiction once where Gau was referred to as a "Man Beast". Or maybe it was Beast Boy who was called Man Beast… I don't know. Someone was called a Man Beast in some fanfic, and it inspired me to write this.**

**Don't you just love long introductions? No? Ah well…**

**Final Fantasy VI is owned by Square Enix, and just to be safe: Beast Boy is owned by DC Comics and ZADR is owned by various Invader ZIM fangirls. And for the record, ZADR scares the crap out of me…**

**-X-**

"A toast!" Edgar shouted as the fourteen heroes met in the Falcon's main room. "We have found each other, and tomorrow we take the fight to Kefka!"

"Aye!" the adults shouted, lifting their glasses.

Sabin drank his drink down in one gulp. He put a muscular arm around Gau. "You psyched about this, Gau?"

"Uwao!" Gau cheered.

"That's the spirit, man-beast," Sabin grinned, not noticing Gau's fallen face.

"Man…beast?" Gau asked.

"Well, we can't call you Beast Boy. That one's taken," Locke chuckled as he walked up to them.

"What about Gau? Why not call Gau Gau?" Gau asked.

"It's just a nickname, Gau," Sabin replied.

Relm, who had decided to keep out of the conversation until just now, simply added: "So is Meathead."

The look on Sabin's face could not be described in words.

Locke tilted his head at Relm. "C'mon, Relm, Gau knows we're kidding. Right, Gau? …Gau?" He looked around. Gau was gone.

"You didn't even notice him leave, did you?" Relm asked angrily.

"I had my arm around him and I didn't even notice," Sabin said, now realizing Gau was gone.

"Meathead," Relm said under her breath as she walked away. "I don't believe these guys. One day before the fight of our lives, and all they do is joke around and goof off. That wasn't even funny what they did to poor Gau. …Why am I talking to myself? Eh… must be nervous about tomorrow. Yeah, that's it…"

Relm wasn't the only one who wasn't amused.

Gau stood on the deck of the Falcon, which was on Auto-Pilot so it could stay in the air while no one was at the controls. He watched the sunset, which was reflected brilliantly by the slow moving waves of the ocean.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Uwahh?" Gau asked, shocked. He turned to his side to find Shadow.

"What they said, I'm sure they didn't mean for it to sound bad," the masked man said, "but they need to learn how to think about what they are going to say before they say it."

Gau looked back at the sunset. "Words hurt Gau."

Shadow nodded. "Sometimes, words do hurt. Listen, Gau… I don't know much about you, but I do know you're just as important to this team as everyone else. They shouldn't treat you like you're…um…"

"A idiot?"

"…Yeah. And I'm sure you're not one. I don't think an idiot can do the things you can do."

"Everyone think Gau idiot because Gau no good speaker," Gau explained.

"Well, if the message is understood, does it matter?" Shadow replied. "I can understand you just fine."

Gau smiled at Shadow before once again returning his attention to the sunset. "Me confused, though."

"Why?"

"Relm mean to everybody. Why she nice to me?"

Shadow coughed. He apparently was uncomfortable talking about his daughter, who by the way didn't even _know_ she was his daughter.

But then he realized that it was only Gau.

"Um…I don't know. What do you think?"

Gau thought for a moment before speaking. "Gau think Relm likes me."

Shadow couldn't help but grin under his mask. "Alright. Alright. And who knows? Maybe she does." He smiled wider when he saw Gau blush. The assassin hadn't felt emotions like this in a long time, and it actually didn't feel so bad. "So…what do _you_ think about Relm?

Gau took another pause to think. "Uh…she funny."

"Heh heh. Yep. She's quite the joker, huh?"

"Yeah…"

Shadow could tell the conversation was getting awkward for the both of them, so he just rested his arms on the railing and joined his feral companion in watching the sunset. It wasn't long before the sun disappeared, and the sky became dark.

Without warning, Gau started weeping.

This startled Shadow. Gau was raised among monsters. As much as the boy wanted a father figure, he never cried about not having a father (Shadow never thought of Gau's father as an actual father, since he was never there for Gau… but then again Shadow never really wanted to think about that anyway because he knew he was no different). For as long as Shadow had known Gau, which wasn't very long, he had never seen him cry. But now here he was, one of the toughest and carefree guys Shadow knew, crying.

"What's wrong?" the assassin asked.

"Why this happen? Why this happen to us? Why Gau? Why Shadow? Why Relm? Why Terra, Setzer, Strago, Edgar, Mr. Thou, other Mr. Thou, Locke, Celes…?"

Shadow paused. He didn't know how to answer… because he asked himself the same thing for the past year.

"Why Kefka?" both said at the same time.

Gau looked at Shadow, now realizing he wasn't the only one wondering why that psycho clown did what he did and why he just _had _to do it.

"Answer that, and you'll answer why we're at war," Shadow said.

"Relm so young! She should no be in war!" Gau practically shouted at the top of his lungs. It's a wonder no one under the deck heard it.

"You're quite young, too," Shadow said. "I agree with you, though. If we could go back… I wouldn't want Relm to get involved. She's… She's got her whole life ahead of her."

Gau nodded. "Relm has more to live for than Gau. Gau just…just…man-beast…" He lowered his head again. "Man-beast with Dad who want nothing to do with Gau."

Shadow cringed. Thoughts like this weren't good to have a day before you fight one of the most powerful beings in existence.

But…maybe there was a way to turn that around for him so it will motivate the boy!

"Well, if you really think that Relm has more to live for, wouldn't you want to try your best to make sure Relm gets the future she deserves?"

Gau looked at Shadow, his frown slowly turning into a smile. "Uwao! Shadow right! Gau must protect Relm!"

The ninja patted Gau on the shoulder. "See? Now you have something to live for. Use it to your advantage. It'll come in handy. Trust me," he concluded. Coincidentally, Shadow's motivation was the exact same thing.

Shadow then left Gau's side and entered the Falcon's main room, believing his job was done.

Gau looked up into the night sky. "Must protect Relm…"

**-X-**

"Is Gau okay?" Relm asked as Shadow came down the ladder. She was kneeling next to Interceptor, petting him gently.

"He is now," Shadow replied. "He just needed a little motivation for tomorrow."

Relm nodded, but she was still unsure.

Shadow sensed this and put a hand on her shoulder before retreating to the lower floor. Relm was surprised at this action, but she dismissed it and continued playing with Interceptor.


End file.
